Here's a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle's archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.

1983

Feb. 26: Tennessee Williams, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose Southern roots and bleak family life erupted on the stage in "The Glass Menagerie," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar named Desire," was found dead in his hotel room in New York. He was 71. The playwright's popularity declined after his last commercial success, "The Night of the Iguana," in 1962, when drink, drugs and bad reviews began to darken his life. Arthur Miller, the other leading playwright of Williams' generation said: "He came into the theater bringing his poetry, his hardened edge of romantic adoration of the lost and the beautiful. For a while, the theater loved him and then went back to searching its pocket for its soul. He chose a hard life that requires the skin of an alligator and the heart of a poet. To his everlasting honor, he persevered and bore us all toward glory."

March 2: San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein sidestepped a request from Northern Irish activists that she present Queen Elizabeth II, who will visit the city next week, with a 1978 human rights report charging that British authorities mistreated Irish prisoners. A delegation of 11 representatives, led by members of Irish Northern Aid, asked Feinstein to present an Amnesty International report to the queen - just as the mayor did with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos. The mayor begged off making a firm promise, saying only, "I'll do the very best I can."

Feb. 25: Fourteen of San Francisco's 1,674 policemen admitted that they live outside the city limits without official permission to do so. The 14 face loss of their jobs the moment their names are reported to the Civil Service Commission. City law says specifically that city policemen must reside in the city. Police Chief Frank Ahern classified 23 other officers as "doubtful residents" because, although they gave San Francisco addresses, they listed "summer cabins" in such places as Daly City and South San Francisco. "You know and I know that Daly City is not a summer cabin area," said Ahern.

March 1: Lefty O'Doul, the boy chef of Geary Street, was hired as the hitting instructor by the San Francisco Giants. The appointment of the former two-time National League batting champion was made by Manager Phil Rigney. Rigney said O'Doul will tear himself away from the architectural problems of building his serve-yourself cafe on Geary in time to report to spring training.

March 3: The Bay Area's newest television station, KTVU (Channel 2) will premiere with a 3 1/2-hour "Salute to the Bay Area." The new station, operated by San Francisco-Oakland Television Inc., will go into regular programming this week. Initially, it will be on the air from 2:45 p.m. until about 11 p.m.

1933

Feb. 27: Over the heads of massed thousands floated a fairy "dream bridge" limned in smoke wreaths. Above, a California golden sun shone from a California blue sky on a sparkling sea. A golden spade flashed. The Presidio's brown earth turned up. A mighty roar of acclaim arose from the thousands of throats and the gigantic Golden Gate Bridge was officially started on its way. Thus, in one of the most colorful fetes ever staged by San Francisco, famous for its fiestas, groundbreaking was begun for the mighty span that will link the peninsula and mainland across the historic headlands that guard one of the greatest harbors in the world. For hours the people celebrated, wedged at least 100,000 thousand strong at Crissy Field, the grass-carpeted stage for the ceremonies. Two hundred and fifty carrier pigeons, provided by the San Francisco Racing Pigeon Club to carry the message of groundbreaking to every corner of California, were so frightened by the surging human mass that small boys had to crawl into their compartments in the bridge replica to shoo them out with sticks.

March 1: The bicycle menace at last has reached police attention. It has been growing week by week. Last week it reached its climax when 600 wild-eyed women between the ages of 16 and 60 cut loose in Golden Gate Park and gave pedestrians and motorists the jitters. Folks complained that their lives were no longer safe in the park, with the two-wheeled menace everywhere. Officer Thomas Smith was given charge of the delicate job of tagging the rubber-tired rounders. Equipped with a grain sack filled with tags, he mounted his Barley motor car, slipped in the clutch and cantered off to do his duty. At sundown, he was still out distributing his billets-doux to the ladies of the handlebar and sprocket club.

1908

Feb. 28: Leon Sloss, the chairman of the finance committee of the Citizens'Health Committee, has issued an appeal for funds to aid in the extermination of rats. The request recites the woes and misfortunes that follow a quarantine that is said to be imminent unless the city has a clean bill of health from the federal government on the expiration of 60 days. The city bacteriologist reports that 15 plague-infected rats were discovered by him last week. More than 4,200 rats have been captured by city and federal employees in the past two days, but this figure does not include the rats that the public has captured and on which a bounty is paid. That the present agitation concerning the alleged presence of plague in this city is being fanned by New York commission merchants, and used to take South American trade away from this coast, is the statement made at a meeting of the Harbor Commissioners by the president of that body.